Buoy with associated mooring arrangement

ABSTRACT

A buoy has a turntable that rotates on and relative to the buoy about a vertial axis. The turntable has at least one laterally extending rigid arm integral therewith and the arm at its other end is secured to a vessel for vertical swinging movement relative to the vessel about a horizontal axis that is fixed relative to the vessel. Anchor chains moor the buoy and a pipeline runs through the buoy and the arm to the vessel.

United States Patent 1191 van Heijst [4 1 Sept. 30, 1975 1 BUOY WITH ASSOCIATED MOORING ARRANGEMENT [75] Inventor: Willem Jan van Heijst, Monte Carlo, Monaco [73] Assignee: N.V. Industrieele Handelscombinatie Holland, Rotterdam Netherlands [22] Filed: Sept. 24, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 399,956

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Septv 26 1972 Netherlands 7212998 [52] U.S. Cl. 9/8 P {51] B63B 21/52 [58] Field of Search 9/8 R. 8 P; 114/230 [56} References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.882536 4/1959 Jordan 9/8 P Koppenol et a1. 1 14/230 X Christians et a1. 1 14/230 Prinmry E.\'uminerTrygve M. Blix Assistant E.\'aminerGregory W. OConnor Alwrney, Agent, or FirmYoung & Thompson [5 7 ABSTRACT A buoy has a turntable that rotates on and relative to the buoy about a vertial axis. The turntable has at least one laterally extending rigid arm integral therewith and the arm at its other end is secured to a vessel for vertical swinging movement relative to the vessel about a horizontal axis that is fixed relative to the vessel. Anchor chains moor the buoy and a pipeline runs through the buoy and the arm to the vessel.

1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 I 3,908,212

BUOY WITH ASSOCIATED MOORING ARRANGEMENT The present invention relates to a buoy with associated mooring arrangement, which buoy is anchored by means of a number of anchors and anchor chains, while the associated mooring arrangement is coupled to the buoy by one or more rigid members which serve to hold the mooring arrangement away from the buoy, which members are on the one hand pivotally hinged on a horizontally disposed pin affixed to the mooring arrangement and are on the other hand coupled to the buoy in such a manner that the mooring arrangement can swing about the axis of a vertically arranged shaft on the buoy, whilst the anchor chains are attached to the buoy. Such a buoy with associated mooring arrangement is known from the Dutch Patent Application No. 6600321, laid open to public inspection. In this known embodiment of a buoy with its associated mooring arrangement, the rigid coupling member is pivotably hinged to a turn-table arranged on the buoy,

which connection also takes place by means of a horizontally disposed pivot. Buoy and mooring arrangement, the latter of which is in many cases a tanker, are

loads and this object is achieved according to the pres-- ent invention by the fact that the coupling member is rigidly attached to a body, layered upon the buoy, which body with respect to the buoy solely can turn around a vertically disposed shaft and which body is supported by the buoy upwards as well as downwards. By the lack of a horizontally disposed hinge between the coupling member and the buoy, the buoy will now follow the movements of the tanker without the danger of capsizing. The buoy now need no longer have its own stability and the water-displacement of the buoy need not be larger than necessary to transmit the anchorforces of the tanker to the anchors. The buoy is held by the mooring arrangement, in this case the tanker, in a manner which is comparable with the manner in which a wheelbarrow is held, which means that rolling movements of vessel and buoy in a transverse direction are performed by both of them together and that with stamping and extinguishing movements of the tanker respectively the buoy performs small stamping movements. The buoy can be constructed so that it has little inertia to be overcome and its dimensions and form are such that it offers very little resistance to the action 0 the waves and tides thereon.

The invention now will be further elucidated with reference to the drawing.

This drawing shows a vessel 1, connected to the buoy 2 by means of two arms 3, which arms at 4 are pivotably connected to the tanker 1 around a horizontally disposed shaft and are integral with a turn-table 5, which turn-table by means of an annular member 6 that extends axially downwardly and terminates in a radially outwardly extending flange is rotatably connected to the buoy 2 for rotation about a vertically disposed axis 7.

The anchor-chains 8 are connected to a ring 9, which is integral with the buoy 2. A pipe-line 10 runs through one of the arms 3, which pipe-line is connected through a rotatable coupling 11 to a pipe-line 12, running downwards.

What I claims is:

1. In combination, a buoy and an associated vessel, means for transferring liquid from the buoy to the vessel for storage in the vessel, a plurality of anchors and anchor chains anchoring the buoy, a turntable, bearings mounting the turntable on the buoy for rotation relative to the buoy about a vertical axis, said bearings interconnecting the turntable and the buoy in upward and downward directions, an elongated rigid coupling member fixedly secured to the turntable at one end of the coupling member near the buoy and extending laterally away from the buoy, and a horizontal shaft at the other end of the coupling member remote from the buoy and connecting the coupling member to the vessel for vertical swinging movement of the coupling member and turntable and buoy on and relative to the vessel about a horizontal axis that is fixed relative to the vessel. 

1. In combination, a buoy and an associated vessel, means for transferring liquid from the buoy to the vessel for storage in the vessel, a plurality of anchors and anchor chains anchoring the buoy, a turntable, bearings mounting the turntable on the buoy for rotation relative to the buoy about a vertical axis, said bearings interconnecting the turntable and the buoy in upward and downward directions, an elongated rigid coupling member fixedly secured to the turntable at one end of the coupling member near the buoy and extending laterally away from the buoy, and a horizontal shaft at the other end of the coupling member remote from the buoy and connecting the coupling member to the vessel for vertical swinging movement of the coupling member and turntable and buoy on and relative to the vessel about a horizontal axis that is fixed relative to the vessel. 